University of Namibia Dissertation

THESIS/DISSERTATION RESEARCH

(1)Candidates who successfully complete the coursework phase, or who are registered for postgraduate study by thesis/ dissertation research alone, undertake research in an approved research topic, and write a thesis / dissertation. This shall normally be after a specified period set by the relevant Committees and approved by Senate.

(2)Thesis and Dissertation research may include an artistic/ aesthetic component, presented in the form of a composition, a theatre / musical performance, and/or an exhibition of original works, as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Master’s or Doctoral degree, respectively.

(3)The candidates shall be assigned supervisors to guide them in their research programmes, and shall write their theses / dissertations in accordance with the guidelines provided by the Postgraduate Studies Committee and approved by Senate.

(4)As a standard practice, every thesis / dissertation shall be accompanied by a declaration stating that it has not been submitted for a similar degree in any other university.

(5)The thesis / dissertation must contain an abstract of not more than 300/400 words, respectively, indicating the general findings of the research, and the major conclusions reached. It must also be satisfactory as regards the format and literary presentation.

(6)Every Master’s thesis submitted shall be examined by at least two specialists approved by Senate on recommendation by the Postgraduate Studies Committees. At least one of these specialists must be external to UNAM. In the case of doctoral dissertations, at least three examiners shall be appointed, of whom one must be external to the University. The supervisor should not be one of the examiners.

(7)The examiners shall be required to submit a detailed assessment of the thesis / dissertation, and also write definite recommendations on whether the degree should be awarded to the candidate unconditionally, or whether the degree

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should be awarded subject to specified corrections/ revisions being made, or whether the thesis / dissertation should be referred back to the candidate for re-writing and re-submission, or whether the thesis/dissertation should be rejected outright.

(8)In cases where the examiners of the thesis / dissertation disagree in their recommendations, the Postgraduate Studies Committee shall study the case and recommend to Senate the appointment of an additional independent examiner to serve as referee on the thesis/ dissertation.

(9)A postgraduate candidate, who disagrees with the results of the examination as approved by Senate, may appeal within a specified time-frame, giving reasons and evidence to support the appeal. Senate will then have the case examined by an Appeals Committee.

(10)Candidates who are registered by thesis research alone (both Master’s and Doctoral students) will normally appear for viva voce examinations. These will be conducted in accordance with the procedures approved by Senate on recommendation by the Postgraduate Studies Committee.

9.4.8REGULATIONS AND GUIDELINES FOR HIGHER DOCTORATES

(1)Candidates for Higher Doctorates must submit to the relevant Faculty Dean, through the respective Head of Department:

(a)a complete Curriculum Vitae, showing their academic, research, and publication experience and records;

(b)a unifying statement (in their fields of specialization) of not more than 5000 words, which sums up their contributions to knowledge and scholarship;

(c)a sample of reprints (or copies) of their important and original works.

(2)Candidates must supply the unifying statement and copies of publications in four sets. Published works shall mean what is printed as a book, or papers published in reputed journals, or work already accepted as being equivalent to a publication. Emphasis on published work ensures that the work submitted for assessment has already benefited from criticism and evaluation by peers.

9.4.9CONFERMENT OF DEGREES Higher Doctorates

(1)The final approval on the degree awarded to prospective candidates shall be granted by UNAM Senate on recommendation by the Postgraduate Studies Committee, after assessing the recommendations by the external examiners.

(2)The successful Higher Doctorate candidates shall each be required to deliver a public lecture in their respective fields of specialization within a year of the degree awarded.

(3)Unsuccessful candidates may not be allowed to re-apply for the same degree within at least three years of the previous application.

9.4.10SUBSEQUENT PUBLICATION FROM A THESIS/DISSERTATION

Papers or publications extracted from a thesis/dissertation submitted for a postgraduate degree of UNAM must contain a statement acknowledging that the work is based on a thesis/dissertation submitted to the University of Namibia.

9.5GUIDELINES ON THE WRITING OF THESIS/DISSERTATION RESEARCH PROPOSALS

(1)The terms “thesis” and “dissertation” carry different connotations in various countries.

(2)At the University of Namibia, the terms are conceived in the context of common usage in many universities, whereby the term thesis is used for a written document presenting the results of research by Master’s degree candidates, while a dissertation refers to a corresponding document submitted by doctoral candidates.

(3)The guidelines to supervisors define what is expected of theses and dissertations, respectively.

(4)Applicants for admission to postgraduate training programmes by research only and by coursework and thesis/dissertation shall be required to write thesis/ dissertation research proposals.

9.6REGULATIONS AND GUIDELINES GOVERNING THE SUBMISSION OF THESES AND DISSERTATIONS

(1)At least three months prior to the scheduled date for the submission of the thesis/dissertation, the respective postgraduate candidates shall, through their supervisors, Departments, Faculties and Institutes, submit a notice, in writing, to the Chairperson of the Postgraduate Studies Committee, declaring their intention to submit their theses/ dissertations.

(2)The notice shall be accompanied by an abstract of the thesis/dissertation of between 200-300 words in the case of Master’s theses, and 300-400 words for Doctoral dissertations. The abstract shall be a synopsis of the methodology of the research undertaken, the findings, and the major conclusions reached. The abridged curriculum vitae of internal and

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external examiners nominated by relevant Faculty Postgraduate Committees shall be submitted together with the notice and confirmation of approval of the abstract by the Faculty Postgraduate Studies Committee, for approval by Senate on recommendation by the Postgraduate Studies Committee (see Annex 12 for the format of the abridged curriculum vitae). The notice of intent and approval of examiners shall not be considered by the Postgraduate Studies Committee unless all outstanding issues pertaining to the research proposal and its summary have been concluded by the Postgraduate Studies Committee.

(3)The Director: School of Postgraduate Studies shall issue a letter of appointment to the thesis/ dissertation examiners.

(4)After examination of the thesis/dissertation, the supervisor must sign a declaration that he/she had checked that the corrections were made to his/her satisfaction.

9.7REGULATIONS AND GUIDELINES ON THE EXAMINATION OF THE SUBMITTED MASTER’S THESES AND DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS

9.7.1MASTER’S THESES AND DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS

(1)Every thesis / dissertation shall be assessed by at least two examiners in the case of Master’s candidates and at least three examiners for Doctoral candidates. At least one of the examiners in each case must be external to the University of Namibia. Supervisors should not act as Internal Examiners. Departments shall utilize appropriately qualified staff from other departments in the University to act as internal examiners when they have within their ranks insufficient staff to draw internal examiners from. Internal and External Examiners should be approved by Senate.

(2)The examiners shall be required to submit their detailed reports about the theses/dissertations within a period of two months from the date of receipt of the documents. If their assessments are not received within two months, new examiners may be appointed.

(3)Each examiner shall be required to examine the thesis/dissertation in detail, and submit his/her assessment under the following headings:

(a)Appropriateness of the thesis/dissertation title. The title should be a true reflection of the content of the thesis/dissertation.

(b)Completeness of the Literature Review. The literature review should lead the reader to a good understanding of what is already known about the research topic, what gaps of knowledge exist, what the study was intended to contribute, and what hypotheses guided the study. The examiners should comment on the candidate’s familiarity with the literature.

(c)Research Methods: The examiners should also comment on the appropriateness of the research methods (and instruments, where relevant) employed in the study.

(d)Presentation of the Results: The examiners should comment on the manner in which the findings of the study are presented. If tables of data are provided, are they reduced statistically? Are the statistical analyses appropriate? If illustrations are provided, are they of publishable quality? Is the description of the research results of adequate clarity and scholarship?

(e)Discussions and Conclusions: Are the conclusions clearly presented? Are they logical and supported by data? Has the candidate sufficiently indicated how his/her results compare with those of others, as cited in the literature? From the thesis/dissertation, is his/her contribution to new knowledge clearly brought out? In the case of Doctoral dissertations, is there evidence of sufficient originality? If there are weaknesses in the thesis/ dissertation, what are the shortcomings?

(f)Summary: The examiner should present a summary indicating whether s/he recommends the thesis/ dissertation for a postgraduate degree award, by completing the Summary Form.

(g)The External Examiners should address their comprehensive written and typed reports to the Director: Postgraduate Studies and must be mailed to the department/faculty.

(4)Re-writing:

(a)Where a Master’s thesis is recommended for re-writing, it must be re-submitted within 6 months.

(b)Where a Doctoral dissertation is recommended for re-writing, it must be re-submitted within 12 months.

9.7.2ASSESSMENT OF PUBLISHED WORKS FOR HIGHER DOCTORATES

(1)The work submitted to UNAM for a Higher Doctorate candidate shall be evaluated by at least three examiners appointed by Senate on recommendation of the relevant Faculty Board and Postgraduate Studies Committee.

(2)The job of examiners shall be to critically examine the candidate’s contribution, to ascertain that:

(a)the work shows outstanding originality;

(b)the candidate’s contribution to new knowledge has been substantial;

(c)the quality of the candidate’s unifying statement is truly excellent.

(3)Examiners for Higher Doctorates shall be selected from amongst the most highly distinguished international scholars on the subject, preferably holders of Higher Doctorates themselves.

(4)The examiners shall be required to report on the candidate’s works, recommending in definite terms, whether or not the Higher Doctorate should be awarded.

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(5)For a candidate to merit a higher doctorate award, the examiners must unanimously approve the award. In case of disagreement among the examiners, similar guidelines to those applicable to Master’s and Doctoral candidates shall be followed.

9.7.3VIVA VOCE EXAMINATIONS

(1)In addition to writing a thesis/dissertation, the postgraduate candidates who are registered as per provisions under Regulation 9.4.3 (2), shall appear for a viva voce examination, to defend the submitted work before a panel of specialists on the subject.

(2)The viva voce examination shall take place only after the Postgraduate Studies Committee and the Senate are satisfied that the thesis/ dissertation submitted by the candidate is considered by the examiners to be of an acceptable standard.

(3)The questions to be asked in the viva voce examination shall primarily be focused on the candidate’s thesis/dissertation research area.

(4)The members of the viva voce panel shall be so selected as to ensure that the candidate is examined by scholars who are sufficiently qualified and experienced in the research field.

(5)The Examiners and the Supervisor(s) of the thesis/ dissertation shall be members of the viva voce panel. The public may attend but are not permitted to ask questions.

(6)The Chairperson of the viva voce panel shall be a senior academic and shall be appointed by Senate on recommendation of relevant academic Boards.

(7)The viva voce panelists shall be provided with full texts of the theses/dissertations, and also of the examiners’ reports, at least two weeks before the date scheduled for the oral examination.

(8)The function of the viva voce panel shall be:

(a)to ascertain that:

*the thesis/dissertation presented (the data, methodology, analysis and findings) is the original work of the candidate;

*the broader subject area in which the study is based is fully grasped by the candidate, and

*any weaknesses in the thesis/dissertation can be adequately clarified by the candidate, and

(b)to make a definite recommendation to the Postgraduate Studies Committee and Senate, as to whether the candidate be deemed to have passed or failed.

(9)The viva voce panel shall, as far as possible, endeavour to reach a unanimous decision on the candidate’s performance.

Where the panelists are unable to reach a consensus as to whether the candidate passes or fails, a vote may be taken to arrive at a reasonable decision. A majority vote shall be required for passing the viva voce examination.

(10)(a) At the end of the oral examination, the panel shall sign a viva voce Examination Results Form making a specific recommendation to the Postgraduate Studies Committee on the candidate’s performance.

(b)The Chairperson of the panel shall also submit to the Postgraduate Studies Committee a comprehensive report, approved by the viva voce panelists. This should be done within one week of the examination.

(11)In cases of disagreement amongst the viva voce panelists, the Postgraduate Studies Committee shall carefully study the case and recommend to Senate one of the following actions:

(a)the candidate should revise and re-submit the thesis/ dissertation, and subsequently re-appear for a further oral examination, within a specified time (but not exceeding 12 months from the date of the decision by Senate); or

(b)the candidate shall be deemed to have failed outright.

(12)The duration of the viva voce shall not normally exceed three hours.

(13)Doctoral work shall not be graded – The examination shall be on pass/fail basis only.